Michael Uccellini has led United Group of Companies after the 2012 death of his father, Walter.

Michael Uccellini has led United Group of Companies after the 2012 death of his father, Walter.

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After United Group lost the Plattsburgh property at bankruptcy, its new owner renamed it Broad Street Commons and cut rents. It now says that occupancy rates are above 95 percent for the fall semester. Source: Campus Advantage ORG XMIT: E0WrzsB0dsrLVUsjZpRY less

After United Group lost the Plattsburgh property at bankruptcy, its new owner renamed it Broad Street Commons and cut rents. It now says that occupancy rates are above 95 percent for the fall semester. Source: ... more

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End to investor dispute sought

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Albany

The United Group is in settlement talks with a Vermont couple who sued the North Greenbush real estate development company two years ago over $652,000 they put into an investment fund the company used to back real estate projects.

Last month, Thomas Fallati, an Albany attorney for the Vermont couple, Robert and Frances Tobia, wrote to a federal magistrate judge that he was in negotiations to settle their securities fraud lawsuit brought against the United Group in U.S. District Court in Albany in October 2015.

"The United defendants and plaintiffs have made progress in settlement discussions and have exchanged drafts of a settlement agreement," Fallati wrote to U.S. Magistrate Judge David Peebles.

Fallati did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did United Group's attorney, Michael de Leeuw of New York City.

The talks may go a long way toward the United Group getting past years of legal struggles over two funds it created in 2008 to provide capital for real estate projects. The funds, which sought cash from wealthy retirees and others, lost millions of dollars in value on three upstate college dorm projects that experienced financial woes. United Group ended up losing all three properties to creditors, wiping out more than $7 million in investor capital.

Federal securities regulators have not placed any blame on United Group for its role in creating the funds, known as the DCG/UGOC Equity Fund and the DCG/UGOC Income Fund.

However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has gone after two men who played important roles in the sale and creation of the United Group funds. They are Edgar Page, a Saratoga County money manager who convinced clients like the Tobias to invest in the funds.

Another was a North Carolina man named Richard Davis Jr. who helped create the funds, which carry the initials DCG for the name of his firm, Davis Capital Group.

The SEC banned Page from the brokerage business and ordered him to pay a $2 million fine after finding he failed to provide enough disclosure to his clients about his compensation from the United Group, with whom he had a close working relationship.

Davis was also banned by the SEC, although not for his involvement with the United Group funds. Last year, the SEC seized several other real estate funds Davis was running and alleged he misled dozens of investors who had invested $11 million with him, although the allegations didn't include mention of his United Group involvement.

United Group has been successful so far in defending itself in court. In October, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against it by an Arkansas Masonic temple that had also claimed to have lost money invested in the DCG/UGOC Equity Fund.

Several other lawsuits are still pending against United Group, including one that was filed last month by a Poughkeepsie doctor who invested $1.78 million in the DCG/UGOC Equity Fund.

A settlement in the case with the Tobias would appear to be the first by United Group in any of the cases against it, although it is not known what the terms of the settlement would be and if it would result in the Tobias receiving any money.

The two sides are supposed to give the judge an update on their progress next Monday.